How to stabilize this wood? PIC

[Steve Mathews]

What might be the best way to stabilize this rough punk wood turning? Filling in the holes with epoxy or CA will not be enough. I need to do something that will penetrate more thoroughly. I used Cactus Juice before but I don't think it would work in this case. It would be hard to trap the juice inside the wood because of the hollowing. Someone on YouTube showed using a thinned epoxy mixture with acetone and brushing it on to soak in. Any other ideas?
509012

[Dave VanDewerker]

I have used this before and it worked well
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-16-oz-High-Performance-Wood-Hardener-340229/305626727

(https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-16-oz-High-Performance-Wood-Hardener-340229/305626727)It seems to be very thin epoxy, it ran straight thru the piece of punky oak turning blank I was using it. For your piece I would use a brush or a sponge and keep applying until it will not any more.

[Kevin Jenness]

Cactus Juice should work if you submerge the vessel in a sufficient quantity. You could marinate the piece in a plastic bag to reduce the volume of juice required. Otherwise, thinned epoxy , wood hardener, or even multiple coats of thin shellac or lacquer may serve to harden the surface sufficiently for finish turning.

[Dwayne Watt]

Taking Kevin's advice a bit further, you could have a plastic bag inside and another outside the vase. The inner one could have water contained within. The outer bag, vase, and inner bag could then be placed in a bucket of water. The hardener of your choice and the vase would be sandwiched between the bags with minimal waste.

[Steve Mathews]

The problem I see with the Cactus Juice based on my one time use of it is that it has to be cooked after the soak. I wrapped the blanks worked on before with aluminum foil to contain the juice. On the vase I don't see a way of containing the juice on the inside. I could wrap the outside but not the inside.

[Kevin Jenness]

I don't think wrapping the piece in foil is necessary- it's used to contain any drips and keep multiple blanks from sticking to one another. You could just wrap the outside or use a drip pan under your piece.

[Richard Coers]

I have used this before and it worked well
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-16-oz-High-Performance-Wood-Hardener-340229/305626727

(https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-16-oz-High-Performance-Wood-Hardener-340229/305626727)It seems to be very thin epoxy, it ran straight thru the piece of punky oak turning blank I was using it. For your piece I would use a brush or a sponge and keep applying until it will not any more.
It can't have epoxy in it, epoxy must be two parts. According to the SDS sheet that is made up of between 50-75% acetone and less than 4% methanol. It flows all the way through because it can be up to 79% solvent. It doesn't say what the other 21% is. https://assets.unilogcorp.com/187/ITEM/DOC/Minwax_100029211_SDS.pdf

[Richard Coers]

Also to use Catcus Juice the piece has to be baked as close to zero percent moisture as possible. That could cause some cracking in the vase.

[Peter Blair]

I have also used this wood hardener on pieces similar to this and it was mostly successful. I found it best to be as near to the finished shape and thickness as possible. I then used a few more coats once the piece was finally sanded etc.

[Jim Tobias]

Have you tried a sealer like Myland's ? I have used it(2 or more coats, sanding in between) and had great results in punky spalted pieces(some of my favorite) before. Just soak it in with a brush and the punky wood will absorb it like a sponge.
Mylands Cellulose Sanding Sealer

Jim